


Bringing Home Baby

by robynthearcher



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Babies, Family Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 09:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1381852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robynthearcher/pseuds/robynthearcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles and Derek are their daughter home from the hospital for the first time. Derek has a trouble facing the fact he's now responsible for such a small, fragile thing. Stiles seems to have a much better handle on things, but it turns out they both need to face their insecurities. Lots of domestic Sterek fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bringing Home Baby

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this post i saw on tumblr (http://dylanships.tumblr.com/post/80293084668/i-have-this-mini-fic-in-my-head-where-stiles-and-derek), and written when i couldn't sleep last night. I did my best to read through it and edit, but please forgive any mistakes. I just wanted to write something sappy after a really shit week. Hope you like it.

“You know, ten years ago, when you were still perfecting your broody, homicidal lurking skills, if someone had told me that this moment right now was something I was going to experience in my future—well, actually I probably would have just gotten really angry that they were making fun of me while I was facing constant mortal peril—but I also would have laughed in their face at the absurdity of the suggestion,” Stiles announced from the back seat of the SUV, where he was sitting next the car seat, beaming down at his daughter, who on her way home from the hospital for the first time.

Derek lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror so he could watch Stiles, “I know the feeling," he agreed. "If someone had told me back then, that I’d be married to that annoying one with the moles, I’d have—“

“Threatened to rip that poor, unsuspecting person’s throat out with your teeth?” Stiles interrupted, meeting Derek’s gaze in the mirror with a cheeky smile.

“Something like that,” Derek said, returning the smile before bringing his attention back to the road.

“Also,” Stiles continued, “I’m pretty sure what you meant to say was, ‘that devastatingly witty one, dotted with sexy constellations I wanted to explore with my tongue.’”

“Whatever you say Stiles. How’s she doing back there?”

“You know, it’s cute that you’re trying to pretend that you haven’t been totally focused on her heartbeat, breathing and whatever other general indicators of her well-being your wolfy-powers can detect since she was born. She’s fine Derek. I promise they wouldn’t have let us take her home if she wasn’t one-hundred percent ready.”

Stiles’ reassurance may have come off as slightly condescending (though it was completely true that Derek was registering ever beat of her heart, and had long-since memorized her scent), but it was also very much needed. Alison Stilinski-Hale (already nicknamed “Ash” by several members of the pack for her initials), had been born over a month prematurely, weighing a scant 3.9 lbs and facing a number of health scares that had both her fathers experiencing the full spectrum of emotions in the weeks following her birth. As first time parents, the primary emotions were fear and helplessness, and it had been the most terrifying thing either of them ever had to face. That was including all the life-threatening, supernatural situations they had found themselves in over the years. If it hadn’t been for the support of Melissa, the rest of the pack, and the amazing staff in the NICU, they probably would have gone completely out of their minds. Even with the support, it was a long, stressful couple of weeks and neither did particularly well at coping.

Stiles had handled the situation the only way he knew how: by buckling down in full-on research mode, learning anything and everything there was to know about premature babies. Anytime he wasn’t directly interacting with their daughter or being forced to sleep by his father and other well-meaning members of the pack, Stiles was sitting in a chair by his daughter’s side with his laptop combing through everything the internet had to offer, and even chatting with other parents in online support groups. Whenever the doctors were around, Stiles always seemed to have an endless supply of questions that made Derek’s head spin. He had no idea what to do. He had been terrified and felt helpless, but Stiles always seemed to be on top of things. For the first week, Derek didn’t sleep at all, insisting that his werewolf stamina would keep him functioning, and daring anyone to move him from his daughter’s side (He’s ninety-nine percent certain that Melissa had something to do with the fact that no one seemed to try). The helpless uncertainty he had faced dragged him to a very dark place in his own mind, and he became convinced that it was somehow his entire fault. That his daughter’s illness was somehow a punishment for him daring to have a happy life with people he loved. Fortunately, Stiles and the others had caught him going down that road and pulled him back, but he still couldn’t help but be reminded of a time in his life when he had lost everyone he loved. This time, he focused all his attention on doing anything and everything he could to help Alison, including taking away any pain and discomfort from the various tubes and IV sticking into her tiny body or whenever the nurses had to take blood and run more tests.

When he and Stiles had first decided they wanted to have a child together, and Lydia had offered and agreed to be their surrogate, Derek had known that eventually there would be times when he would need to use his ability to take away his child’s pain (scraped knees, bumps on the head, teething), but he hadn’t been prepared to be doing it so soon. The abstract idea of having a child in pain was unpleasant enough, but being faced with a fragile helpless thing that he could hold with one arm, and knowing she was in pain was utterly heart wrenching. It was nothing Derek had been prepared for.

Before the fire Derek had lived with his human cousins and siblings, and even baby werewolves didn’t develop their powers until they were older, so Derek was aware that some children were more delicate than others, but none of them had been as fragile as his daughter. Derek couldn’t help but think of her as a fine glass sculpture: beautiful and perfect, but breakable, and he couldn’t help but be worried she would shatter.

“Ok Derek, that’s it,” Stiles said, interrupting Derek’s train of thought, “I’m pretty sure we were just out-paced by an inch-worm.”

“I’m not going _that_ slowly.”

“I’m pretty sure you are, and going way below the speed limit is just as dangerous as going above it.”

“That’s only in traffic. The road is completely empty right now.”

“Yeah, because everyone else passed us eons ago!” Stiles said with exasperation, “It could be a ticket-able offense, Derek.”

“Are you worried that the Sheriff might pull us over?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow even though he knew Stiles couldn’t see it.

“Yes I am, because he’s probably going to use it as an excuse to claim we’re endangering out child’s safety and take her in to protective custody so he can have her all to himself because he is a complete baby hog!”

“A baby hog?” Derek questioned skeptically.

“Yes. A baby hog. A hogger of babies,” Stiles explained, as if it were a ridiculous notion that Derek didn’t know what he was talking about,. “One who takes ever chance he can get to hold said baby and not let anyone else have a turn. Whenever he was at the hospital he was always taking Ash from me and I always had to fight with him to get her back. Ergo, he’s a total baby hog!”

“He’s just excited about being a first-time grandparent, it’s completely natural. Besides, look at her, can you blame him for wanting to hold her, she’s absolutely perfect.”

“Yes I can blame him, Derek, because she is perfect and I’m a first-time parent and whenever he’s around I don’t get any time with my own baby.”

“You know, the baby doesn’t like it when you whine like that,” Derek pointed out as Stiles sulked.

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Her heartbeat picks up. It makes her agitated.”

“God, I hate you and your stupid werewolf superpowers.” Stiles said, trying to look grumpy, but finding it impossible while looking at Alison.

“You know I can hear your heart too. It makes a very distinguishable sound when you try and lie.” Derek teased.

Stiles’ only response was to stick out his tongue.

“Very mature. You’re definitely ready to be a parent.”

“I just wish I could hear her heart-beat too," he pouted. "Hey, do you think Melissa would mind if I borrow her stethoscope?”

“Stiles, you’re not going to spend all day with a stethoscope pressed against our daughter’s chest, just so you can hear her heartbeat.”

“Come on, why not? You get to hear it.”

It’s true that Derek had been able to hear their daughter’s beating heart, even when she had been in the womb, and it was an absolutely incredible feeling, but he had also been able to hear it when things had been going wrong, and there was no way to describe to Stiles the terror and panic he had felt in those moments. It’s true that Stiles had been able to hear the beeps on the heat rate monitors she had been connected to, but it was one thing to hear the beeping of the machine and the alarms, and another thing entirely to actually hear the strain of the her heart muscles, struggling and failing to do their job. There had been nothing he could do but listen as her heartbeat had gotten fainter. When she was first taken into the NICU, he was  on edge constantly, listening for the moments his daughter briefly stopped breathing as her under-developed lungs struggled to take in oxygen. Her little heart would flutter and stutter in response, trying to get what oxygen was in her blood to the rest of her body. The ability to hear their daughters heartbeat may be miraculous, but it also came at a price Derek wasn’t quite ready to share with Stiles just yet.

“Just be glad you don’t have enhanced hearing when she’s crying," He said instead. "If you think it’s bad now, imagine it ramped up a few decibels.”

Stiles smiled down at their daughter fondly, “She does have a set of pipes on her, doesn’t she. Hey, you think it’s because she’s part banshee?”

“I think babies are just loud. We don’t know what she is or will be. We won’t know if she’s a werewolf until her first moon anyway, and Lydia powers were dormant until Peter bit her, so Alison may never develop powers. As far as we know, she could be completely human.”

‘Completely human and completely breakable’ Derek’s mind supplied unhelpfully. Another voice (one that sounded an awful lot like Stiles) reminded him that being human was not the same as being fragile or weak. Stiles was proof enough of that, and so was her namesake. When they chose to name her Alison, it was a promise to each other and the rest of the pack that they would do everything in their power to raise a daughter who would grow up to be as strong, loyal and courageous as their friend had been.

Alison’s death all those years ago (although there were times the pain of her loss still stung as if it had just happened) had been the catalyst for so much change in their little pack. Derek wasn’t sure what would have happened if Alison had lived, maybe he and Stiles still would have found each other, but their relationship as it was now began in the wake of her death. Not romantically (that had taken several years), but the friendship on which their love had been built was forged in a shared experience.

After the adrenaline rush from fighting the nogitsune wore off, everyone finally had the change to process what had happened. Stiles barely leave his bed for a week, not eating and hardly sleeping. At least the nightmares were gone, but they had been replaced with inescapable memories of being the nogitsune. The people he had killed and tormented. He knew he was worrying his father, Scott, and the rest of his friends. Hr could remember them coming into his bedroom trying to talk to him, but he couldn’t respond. All he could manage was staring at the wall opposite his bed, letting the guilt consume him. It was Derek who had finally been the one to pull him back.

Derek had come to him every day and tried to reason with him, to snap him out of it, but it hadn’t worked. Finally, he just sat there with Stiles and began to tell him what had happened with Kate, how he had been so easily tricked into telling a hunter where and how to find his family on a lunar eclipse when they would be at their most defenseless. He told Stiles about the fight he and Laura had before she left for Beacon Hills, something he’s never admitted before. He didn’t want Laura to go looking into the fire, thought she should let the past stay in the past, but Laura had been insistent. She had asked him to come with her, but he had refused, and not he couldn’t help but feeling that if he had been there, than Peter never would have been able to attack her. He couldn’t shake the feeling that her death was on his hands too.

All the time he talked, Derek wasn’t even sure that Stiles was hearing him, but he kept going anyway. It was the most he had talked to anyone in years, and he wasn’t sure it was doing anything. But when he finished, Stiles managed, in a horse voice, barely more than a whisper, a very faint, “None of that was your fault.” Which he had returned with, “And this isn’t yours.”

After that, Stiles manages to get out of bed. He talked with his father and agreed to start seeing Ms. Morrell for trauma counseling (Stiles had been initially skeptical about trusting her, but being able to talk to her about the whole picture was better than trying to hide the real reason for his trauma from a regular therapist, or trying to explain werewolves and Japanese demonic possession without expecting to get thrown back in Eichen House). In the end it had been really helpful. He and Derek had become friends after that, not just allies who helped each other out when the dark forces of the world were after them, but actual friends who texted and hung out, swapped stories and got to know each other. When the rest of the pack started college, Stiles convinced Derek to apply as well, knowing it was something he had always secretly wanted. It had taken them almost four years to get from friends to dating, but it had been the happiest Derek had felt in since his family had died, so he wasn’t complaining.

Derek couldn’t help the butterflies in his stomach as the pulled onto the road leading up to the secluded property. When Derek proposed to Stiles, he finally made the decision to use the rest of the insurance money to buy back his family land from the county. Up until that point, he had hated using what felt like blood money for anything other than the absolute essentials, and he hadn’t been sure he wanted to face his old home again. The idea of starting a life with Stiles made him reconsider his stance. They designed a new home together that was completely different from the house that had burned down. Being on the same land was enough to provide Derek happy memories of growing up with his family, and the new house kept him from feeling like he was facing the ghosts of his old life anytime he walked through his home. The house was finished in time for them to move in after their honeymoon and they started to fill the new house with memories of their own. Now, those memories were going to include a family, and he couldn’t wait to see his yard full of running, screaming kids once more.

He pulled into the driveway and brought the car to a stop, cutting the engine and turning back to look at his husband, “Well, here we are. Home.”

Stiles smiled back at him, “Are you sure we’re ready for this?”

“It’s a little late to back out now,” Derek said, getting out of the car and opening the door for Stiles, who hopped out of the back with his usual grace.

He tried to play it off as cool, but Derek’s heart had started pounding at Stiles’ question. It made come to the very sudden realization that he and Stiles were now completely on their own with the baby. A baby who until very recently had needed the aid of various medical equipment, none of which were coming home with Derek and Stiles. As terrifying as their hospital ordeal had been, at least there when Derek was feeling overwhelmed, or didn’t know what to do, or something happened with Ash, there had been a whole team of doctors and nurses to swoop in a take over. Here, it was just him and Stiles. From now on, Stiles and Derek were completely responsible for her well-being and safety. Derek’s panic rose at the thought, and he couldn’t help but think the whole parent thing hand sounded a lot more appealing before this all-encompassing, paralyzing fear thing started. Whenever he had started to feel this way in the hospital, the only thing that had been able to calm him down, was holding on to his daughter. Her warmth and weight (as slight as it was) in his arms had been enough to assure him that she was fine, she was a fighter, and she was going to be ok.

“Stiles, why don’t you let me carry her,” He suggested, trying not to let Stiles see his anxiety.

“What? No, I’ve got her. Here you take the diaper bag.” Stiles said, shoving the bag into Derek’s arms before reaching back into the car to undo the straps on Alison’s car seat.

“Stiles, please, just let me carry her.”

“Derek, I am authorized to carry a lethal weapon, I think I can handle a baby.”

“Well, if you insist. Let’s just get her inside.” Derek said, looking down at the content baby in Stiles’ arms.

Seeing her looking so peaceful soothed his panic somewhat, but it wasn't the same as having her in his arms. He was still wound up when Stiles tripped and stumbled forward a few steps. It was really more of a miss-step that a trip, but Derek instinctively reached out to grab Stiles, catching him with one arm around his shoulders, and the other around his grip on the baby, making sure she was secure. He couldn’t help the brief vision of Alison tumbling out of Stiles arms and landing headfirst on the pavement below with catastrophic results that flashed in his mind or the way his heart skipped a beat in fear.

“Stiles!” He yelled, his eyes flashing blue in panic and anger as he looked down and saw the offending untied shoelace on which Stiles had tripped.

Alison, taking offense to the abrupt movement, and probably feeding off of Derek’s agitation, let out a loud wail and began to cry in earnest. Derek, overlooking Stiles’ own panic and ashen, fear-filled face, plucked the crying baby out of Stiles’ arms and into his own protective hold.

“Jesus, Stiles! Are you kidding me? Your shoe is untied,” He accused in angry exasperation that was based entirely on his own insecurities about being able to provide for Ash’s safety. “I know you can be a little spastic and uncoordinated, but I never thought you’d actually risk dropping the baby!”

“Is she alright?” Stiles asked in genuine concern, bending down and making a point of double knotting his shoelace.

“Does she sound alright?” Derek asked agitated. The truth was Alison, had already started to calm down, her cries fading to a light whimper as she settled into the warm comfort Derek’s arms, but he was still so scared, he couldn’t help but lash out. “Here, take the diaper bag, maybe you can manage to keep a hold on that. You can have the baby back when you’re sitting still and the risk of falling is zero.”

Stiles continued as if nothing had happened, cheerfully leading them into the house, and taking about a hundred picture of them on his phone, which he had pulled out when it became clear Derek wasn’t giving the baby up anytime soon. He lead them on a tour of the house, showing everything off for Alison, keeping up his usual level of zany commentary. Having Alison in his arms, slowly worked its magic, and as they walked through the house, Derek could feel some of the tension and fear leaving him. They ended the tour in the nursery, and Stiles pointed out the crib to Alison, explaining how Derek’s father had made it by hand when her Aunt Laura had been born, howall the Hale children had slept in it, and how Derek had gotten it from storage and painstakingly repaired and restored it from the damage it had taken in the fire.  


“You know Ash,” Stiles said, resting his chin on Derek’s shoulder and speaking down to their baby, “This used to be you daddy Derek’s office, but he worked so hard turning it into you new bedroom. Of course I helped too, but he’s really the brawn of this outfit. I’m the brains, obviously, but you’ll soon realize the benefits of keeping a werewolf around. He used to have his big, gorgeous mahogany desk in here, that had to have weighed at least a ton, but he carried it out like it was nothing. I really love that desk. It was the first place in this house that your daddy and I ever—“

“Stiles!” Derek cut him off, “I really don’t think we need to start emotionally scaring our daughter on her first day home.”

Stiles smirked and tilted his head so he could nibble at Derek’s earlobe, something he knew could turn Derek into mush, “Hmm…It’s probably better not to create false expectations for her. I’m never going to be able to keep my hands off of you, and I have you so whipped, you can never resist me. Her eventual embarrassment and mortification is inevitable, might as well start on day one.”

Derek sighed at his husband, and sat down in the double rocker they had bought for the nursery. “Can’t we just enjoy the moment?”

Stiles smiled and sat down next to him, pressing into his side. “Ok,” he said, pressing a kiss to Derek’s jaw, then cooing down at the baby. After a moment, sitting together, Stiles looked back up at Derek, “I’m sitting down now, Derek, time to hand her over.”

He said it in such a Stiles way, that Derek couldn’t help the smile and small laugh that escaped him. He relented and gently passed over the baby. Once Alison was comfortably situated in Stiles’ arms, already starting to drift off to sleep, Derek, wrapped his arms around Stiles, holding onto both him and the baby. The sense of contentment Derek felt at being able to hold onto the two most important people in his life, made him realize that all the worries and fear he felt about raising Alison (and any other children he and Stiles decided to have), were easily worth it.

Derek wasn’t sure how long they sat there together as a family, rocking in silence. He and Stiles were just content to listen to the soft huffs of Alison’s breath as she slept peacefully in their arms.

“I wish my mom could be here,” Stiles admitted in a soft whisper, gently stroking his daughter’s cheek.

“I know,” was all Derek had to say, pressing a tender kiss to Stiles temple. He did know, and he too wished that his parents and family could have gotten the chance to meet Alison, and to see him like this: happy and loved, feeling like the luckiest person in the universe.

~*~*~*~*~

The next couple weeks after bringing Alison home were quite the adjustment period for Stiles and Derek. The learning curve was steep and the sleep was little and far between, but they managed to struggle through. It also happened to be the most awe-inspiring period of Derek’s life. Everyday there was something new to learn about his daughter, and he loved every second of it: late-night feedings, bath-time, watching her sleep, the way she would grab onto his pinky finger and stare up at him while she was being feed. He even loved the messy parts: dirty diapers, spit-up and drool on every piece of clothing he owned, even the noise of her crying didn’t bother him too much (except those times he didn’t know why she was crying and couldn’t get her to stop, feeling helpless at his inability to sooth her obvious discomfort). But Derek’s favorite thing by far since bringing his daughter home was watching Stiles with the baby.

Stiles was just as enamored of her as he was. Derek loved watching him rock with her, holding her up against his chest kangaroo-style like they had done in the hospital, watching them fall asleep together on the couch, watching Stiles lie with her on the soft baby blanket for tummy time. Derek’s favorite moments were when he and stiles could curl up in their bed together, with Alison tucked gently between them. Derek also felt a little thrill at the way Alison’s heartbeat would grow stronger with excitement at the sound of Stiles’ voice, which she had been able to recognize his as soon as she was born. Derek knew it was because Stiles had never felt the same awkward hesitation the he had about talking to Alison while she was in the womb. Both Lydia and Stiles had tried to encourage him to do so, but it had always seemed too strange. Stiles, being who he was, had hardly shut up around Lydia during her pregnancy to the point that Lydia got frustrated because he was spending more time talking at her belly than talking with her.

Derek’s fears about Alison’s safety had also lessened considerably as he had become used to their routine and more confident in his abilities to care for his own child. The telltale sharpening of her nails, the slight point in her ears and the tufts of hair she had sprouted at her first full moon, in confirmation that she was a werewolf, had also helped ease Derek’s worry. She was still vulnerable now, as he real abilities wouldn’t develop until much later, but knowing that there was going to be a day when he knew she’d be able to heal from any injuries and the fact that he wouldn’t have to worry about her getting sick did great things for peace of mind.

Stiles had been less enthused about raising a werewolf child. Not that it had changed the way he felt about Alison in anyway, but he had balked at the notion, having no idea what to expect from a born werewolf. Derek also suspected that Stiles had been a little disappointed in the revelation. When he and Stiles had chosen Lydia as their surrogate, they had both donated sperm, having an equal chance of fathering their child. If Alison had remained human, they might never have known who her biological father was. Being a werewolf was irrefutable proof that she was Derek’s.

A few weeks after bringing Alison home, Derek found himself sitting on their living room sofa next to Stiles. Alison was in Stiles arms, wearing a hideous orange and navy-blue striped onesie Derek was sure Lydia would destroy if she ever found out about its existence.

“Ok, Ash,” Stiles was saying to his daughter, as if he was imparting some great wisdom. “This is a very important day, and you’re going to want to try and remember this.” Derek couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his husband ridiculousness, Stiles ignored him, and continued to address their daughter, “This is the day you watch your very first Mets game. Now, I can’t promise it will be easy. The life of a Mets fan is long-suffering and filled with heartbreak, but every once in awhile, they’ll throw you a bone, and it’ll be the greatest feeling in the world. Your grandma Claudia was the biggest Mets fan I ever knew, and we would watch all the games together. She even took me to New York once to see them play, and it was the best day I ever had until you came along. One day, when your bigger and stronger, and your wolfy immune system has kicked in, we’ll take you to see them too, but for now, we’ll just have to settle for the TV. Are you ready?”

Derek snorted, “Considering her brain can’t process any of what you just said and she’s probably just going to fall asleep in a few minutes anyway, yeah, I’d say she was ready.”

“Shut up Derek, no one asked you. Don’t listen to him sweetheart, he’s just a big grumpy, sourwolf who doesn’t want anyone else to have fun. Gooooooo Mets!” He cheered for her, waving her tiny fist in a celebratory manor.

Alison seemed completely nonplussed, her only response being to blink up at her father, opening and closing her mount in a little “O”. Stiles snapped a selfie of them anyway to commemorate the moment. 

“You’re ridiculous.” Derek said, making a show of rolling his eyes at stiles, though in truth he found his enthusiasm adorable and endearing. He had to, otherwise their marriage never would have worked out.

Sometime later, in the fifth-inning, while the Mets were already down four runs to the Cincinnati Reds, and Alison had woken up from sleeping through most of the first four innings, Derek got up to feed the baby.

“Not that this isn’t fascinating and all, but I’m going to have to take Alison from you. It’s time for her bottle.”

“What? Derek, no. Can’t you just prep her bottle and bring it out here so I can feed her? This is her first Mets game, I don’t want her to miss any of it.”

“Stiles, she’s already slept through ninety percent of it. I’m sure she’ll have plenty more opportunities to watch them lose when she’s older and will actually remember it.”

“Derek, that’s not the point. This is our special time. Just let me have my moment, ok? You’ll get to teach her all that werewolf stuff and impart your wisdom about the best ways to avoid walking down stairs like a normal person, and Lydia is going to be all over her school stuff, making her into the little genius clone we know she’s going to be. This is something I can give her that we’ll have together, ok? stop trying to hog the baby and just bring me the bottle.” Derek was sure Stiles didn’t mean to sound like he was whining as much as he did.

“I’m not trying hog the baby, but she’s going to need a diaper change soon anyway. I promise I will bring her back to you as soon as she is fed, burped, changed and cleaned, so you can continue with you special time.”

“Derek,” Stiles pleaded, now definitely sounding like a whine, “I’m sitting down, I get the baby. Those are the rules!”

That caught Derek off-guard, “What? Stiles what the hell are you talking about? What rules?”

Stiles dropped his eyes to the baby in his arms, ticking Alison’s little feet and watching her kick out in response, so her could avoid looking at Derek. Stiles saw the way the tips of his ears had gone flush in the way they only did when he was feeling self-conscious. “You know,” he mumbled, even though it didn’t make any difference to Derek’s werewolf hearing, “You said I couldn’t hold the baby unless I’m sitting, so that I don’t…so that I don’t drop her.”

Derek was at a complete loss. He could smell Stiles’ vulnerability and self-doubt in a way he hadn’t experienced in years. He knew he had said some pretty terrible things to Stiles when they had fist brought Alison home, but Stiles hadn’t reacted at all. Derek though he had just brushed it off.

“Have you really only been holding her when you were sitting down?” Derek asked dumbfounded, sitting back down on the couch. As he thought back on the time they had spent at home with their daughter, and all the time he had spent watching Stiles interact with her, he realized he had never once seen Stiles carry their daughter more than a few feet before putting her down or sitting down with her. And even the times that he was sitting with her, Derek realized he had never seen Stiles sit more still or carefully.

“You said I couldn’t!” Stiles said, defensively, but Derek could hear the truth behind his words. Stiles had been afraid of dropping Ash because of what Derek had said that first day home. He hated himself more than he ever had before in that moment, knowing that something he said had caused Stiles to be afraid of holding his own child.

“Stiles, we’ve known each other for over a decade, I dare you to name one time you let me telling you not to do something stop you from doing exactly that thing.”

“There was that time you didn’t want me to know you were going to town hall to buy back your family's property, so you kept sneaking away to your meeting and when I asked you told me not to worry about it and  to stop following you,” Stiles supplied.

“You had three different deputies follow me to figure out what I was doing.”

“Yes, but _I_ didn’t follow you, because you had told me not to.” Stiles said smugly, basking in the fact that he was a clever little shit.

Derek just rolled his eyes, and returned to the matter at hand, “Stiles, I had no idea you paid any attention to what I said that day. I though you knew I was just on edge. I didn’t mean any of it.”

“But you were right, Derek,” Stiles insisted quietly.

“No, I wasn’t. Not even a little bit. I was just scared because she was so small and delicate, and we had already come so close to losing her. I already know what it feels like to have everything I love taken away. The though of that happening again…I can’t handle that. I was wrong to take it out on you.”

“But I almost dropped her Derek!” Stiles said in an alarmed voice, final admitting his fears out loud, “Our first day alone with her and I almost threw her on the sidewalk! You were right, my hand-eye coordination is abysmal, and I have zero right to hold any living thing, let alone a small, helpless baby if there is even the slightest change of dropping, or tripping or falling.”

“That’s not true. Your reflexes and coordination are much improved since you were in high school.”

“I broke all but three of our wedding glasses, Derek!”

“Yeah, but most of those times you were drunk, so just watch your alcohol consumption around the baby, and you’ll be fine.”

“You’re really not worried about me holding her?” Stiles blinked up at him, and the earnestness of his question broke Derek’s heart.

“Of course I’m not. You’re an amazing father.”

“But whenever I’m sitting with her, you always help me hold her like you’re think she’s going to fall out of my arms. And you’re always hovering near by whenever I have her, like you don’t trust me to be alone with her.”

“Stiles that had nothing to do with me not trusting you.”

“Then what is it?” Stiles demanded.

Now it was Derek’s turn for his ears to go pink. After having offended Stiles, so profoundly before, he wasn’t exactly sure how to go about admitting this to him without hurting his feelings again. He decided to go for the most direct, stiles-like approach he could think of.

“It’s because you’re the baby hog Stiles.”

“Excuse me?”

Derek sighed, “It’s not me and it’s not your dad or anyone else. You’re the one who’s totally bogarting the baby, Stiles. As soon as anyone else gets a chance to hold Ash for more than five minutes, you start complaining about not getting enough time with her and demanding to have her back.”

  
“I do not!” Stiles said, taken aback.

“Yes, you do. I’m pretty sure it’s because you were and only child and never really learned how to share, but you’re going to have to get used to it. Me and the rest of the pack want to have our fair share of baby time.”

“I do to know how to share,” He protested childishly.

“I distinctly remember how upset you used to get whenever Scott made plans to hang out with Isaac or someone else instead of you.”

“That’s because he was my friend first!” Stiles snapped before he had a chance to realize what he was saying. Then once he had a chance to listen to himself, “Oh, god, am I really that bad?”

“Yes, but for some reason, I still love you anyway,” Derek said, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “Besides, there’s one thing I’ve discovered that’s even better than getting to hold Alison.”

“Uh, what could possibly be better than this?” Stiles asked, looking down at the baby in his arms, offended that Derek would even dare suggest that holding their daughter wasn’t the most perfect sensation in the world.

Derek smiles at him, and gently pulled Stiles and Alison into his lap, one arm helping to cradle their daughter, the other at the back of Stiles’ head, pulling him in for a deep, loving kiss.

“When I get to hold both of you at the same time.” He answered when the parted.

“You are such a sap,” Stiles teased, but he leaned back against Derek’s chest, tucking his head into the crook of his neck, nuzzling against his stubble.

It was the perfect moment, and Derek was ready to stay like that forever. Of course, Alison chose that moment to vocalize her displeasure with the fact her fathers seemed to have forgotten all about her lunchtime. Derek sighed, and carefully moved, Stiles off of him, standing up to go warm up the milk.

“No, it’s ok,” Stiles insisted, standing up and walking confidently towards the kitchen with Alison in his arms, “I’ve got this.”


End file.
